American singer, songwriter and actress Alicia Augello Cook known professionally as Alicia Keys has released her new single, “City of Gods (Part II).”
A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs by age 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Columbia Records. After disputes with the label, she signed with Arista Records and later released her debut album, Songs in A Minor, with J Records in 2001. The album was critically and commercially successful, selling over 12 million copies worldwide. It spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single “Fallin'”, and earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002.
Alicia Keys’ second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), was also a critical and commercial success, selling eight million copies worldwide, and producing the singles “You Don’t Know My Name”, “If I Ain’t Got You”, and “Diary”. The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards.
In 2004, her duet “My Boo” with Usher became her second number-one single. Keys released her first live album, Unplugged (2005), and became the first woman to have an MTV Unplugged album debut at number one.
Alicia Keys’ third album, As I Am (2007), sold seven million copies worldwide and produced the Hot 100 number-one single “No One”. In 2007, Keys made her film debut in the action-thriller film Smokin’ Aces. She released the theme song to the James Bond film Quantum of Solace “Another Way to Die” with Jack White.
Alicia Keys’ fourth album, The Element of Freedom (2009), became her first chart-topping album in the United Kingdom, and sold four million copies worldwide. The album included the Billboard Hot 100 charting singles “Doesn’t Mean Anything”, “Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart”, “Un-Thinkable (I’m Ready)”.
Keys’ collaboration with Jay-Z on “Empire State of Mind” (2009), became her fourth number-one single in the United States. Her fifth album Girl on Fire (2012), became her fifth Billboard 200 topping album, and included the successful title track.
Alicia Keys’ sixth studio album, Here (2016), became her seventh US R&B/Hip-Hop chart-topping album. Her seventh studio album, Alicia (2020) spawned the singles “Show Me Love” and “Underdog”.
In June 2021, InStyle announced Keys was expanding products in her skincare line Keys Soulcare to encompass face, neck, and body care products.
In an interview with The Guardian, Keys shared that her anxiety surrounding what her skin looked like played a large role in developing her skin and body care offerings. A five-year break from wearing make-up helped provide Keys with the time and perspective needed to develop the products she offers in Keys Soulcare.
Along with the launch of new products, Keys put forth a set of the tips, termed commandments, via Elle of things she does for spiritual and physical health and well-being. With Shape magazine Keys shared a self-love ritual she does every morning that includes admiring herself in the morning for several minutes.
On September 9, 2021, Keys released the single “Lala (Unlocked)” featuring US rapper and singer Swae Lee of the hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd. The song was performed at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards. The music video was released on September 23, 2021.
The single proceeds the release of Keys’s eighth studio album and follow-up companion to 2020’s Alicia, entitled Keys. First previewed via Alicia’s 2021 Noted YouTube docu-series, the album was released on December 10, 2021, as a double album featuring both fully produced and broken down versions of new material.
